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JACK LOECHNER at Media Post shared some powerful data about the nature of a rewarding experience. Marketers too often focus on the customer actions they want without really understanding the values that drive those behaviors.

The resulting gaps impact sales results and brand engagement. The good news is that with a slight shift in perspective, marketers can gain the confidence that the customer actions they want can be predictably and reliably delivered. Read more about customers and What Are They Really Thinking?

I have seen this play out in the retail environment where products require a more education before the customer can fully appreciate the true value proposition of the products. In one case study we were able to boost engagement and sales to the tune of 40,392 units to 813,892 units in only two months.

We were able to crack the code for those customers. Results are often unprecedented.

Understanding the thoughts, emotions, motivations and needs of the audience a business serves is often a series of questions. These questions are a starting place.

The key to success is listening to the answers and taking action. That way the questions continually engage the audience and the level of feedback you gain helps to optimize how you operate your business

Empathy Map Questions

· What are your customer’s concerns?

· What are your customer’s real feelings?

· Is your customer happy with your product/service?

· How does your customer react to _________________?

· Is your customer angry or upset about your product/service?

· What are your customer’s dreams and aspirations?

· What are your customer’s preoccupations?

· What really counts with your customer?

· What are your customer’s fears?

· Who is your ideal customer?

· What do they think about during the day?

· Are they feeling stressed? Relaxed?

· What other factors are they wondering about during a typical day?

· Do they hate their job? Love their job?

· What is their core yet unexpressed priorities?

· What causes an emotional reaction for them?

· What are their dreams and goals?

· What worries keep them up at night?

STEP TWO: What does the person HEAR? What Friends Say, What the Boss Says, What Influencers Say

· What channel does your customer use the most?

· Is your customer easily influenced?

· What influences your customer?

· Who influences your customer?

· Through which channel does your customer get their information?

· Does your customer listen to family and friends?

· Is your customer more influenced by peers and co-workers?

· What music do they listen to?

· What “self talk” goes through their head?

· What kind of ideas, information and opinions are being shared with your target customer by their friends and family?

· What kind of things do they hear at work?

· Who are the people they are most influenced by?

· What are the mediums and tactics used to influence them?

STEP THREE: What the person SEES: Environment, Friends, What the Market Offers

· How does your customer interact with their environment?

· What does your customer’s environment look like?

· Is your customer more in a private environment or a public environment?

· How does your customer respond in a private environment?

· How does your customer respond in a public environment?

· What is your customer exposed to on a daily basis?

· What problems does your customer face within their environment?

· Are they highly visual?

· Are they looking for great design or content?

· What do they see?

· What does their environment consist of?

· Who are the other individuals who form a part of the customer’s environment?

· What kind of product offerings do they see?

· What kind of issues and challenges do they usually have?

STEP FOUR: What does the person SAY and DO? Attitude in Public, Appearance, Behavior Towards Others

· What does your customer say to others?

· How does your customer respond to others?

· What are your customer’s actions after a conversation?

· Does what your customer says match what your customer does?

· How does your customer portray themselves in front of peers?

· Does your customer influence others with their actions?

· Does your customer influence others with their words?

· What information does your customer hold back from others?

· What information does your customer repeat to others?

· What are they telling others?

· What actions are they taking on a day-to-day basis?

· What is their behavior when they are surrounded by people?

· What, according to them, are their priorities?

· What is the gap between what they express and their actual actions?

· Do they act as influencers and opinion leaders for others?

· Place direct quotes from your customers HERE.

STEP FIVE: PAIN – Fears, Frustrations, Obstacles

· What are your customer’s pain points?

· What does your customer fear the most?

· What does your customer fear the least?

· What kinds of frustrations does your customer face on a daily basis?

Laurie Sullivan@lauriesullivan, at Media Post shared some interesting data regarding engagement results from email and text message campaigns. Engagement where the recipient has a ‘choice’ in the matter, i.e., click to request a coupon versus just sending the coupon, had a significant impact on open rates and conversions.

Experian Marketing Services released its quarterly email benchmark report Q2 2015 focusing on engagement rates and duel subscriber rates, those who subscribe to email and some sort of alternative communication, like mobile text of push messages on their device.

“Customers who texted to get a coupon were more willing to complete a purchase than those receiving a push campaign, but both message types were successful in generating revenue.”

Analysts also looked at consumers who subscribe to both email, whether opened on a smartphone or desktop, and some other form of communication such as mobile text or push messages on their device.

In the analyses of SMS and MMS messaging programs from two brands it turns out dual subscribers were 3.9 times more likely to complete transactions than email-only customers. Transaction rates for mobile campaigns were 10-times higher than those for email campaigns

More than half of all email opens and 38% of clicks occur on mobile devices, but sometimes it takes two channels to make a campaign work. So, to better understand the value of mobile subscribers, Experian Marketing Services analyzed case studies from two brands with on-going SMS and MMS messaging programs. In both cases, analysts could attribute transactions to mobile campaign data by subscriber.

Consider this: signing up to receive emails, subscribers can open those emails on desktop, tablet, e-reader or mobile device. Mobile SMS and MMS require a separate opt-in. In the first analysis, “Brand A,” which sends emails and SMS messages announcing seasonal products, wanted to see if email subscribers who also provide their mobile phone numbers transact more in any one channel, compared with email-only subscribers.

Comparing both, Experian found significant increases in the percentage of mobile and email subscribers who had completed transactions. Dual subscribers (22.5%) were 3.9-times more likely to make a transaction, compared with email only subscribers (5.7%).

The second study with another brand analyzed SMS and MMS campaigns during eight months from another brand. It compared two types of mobile campaigns for Brand B, broadcast campaigns, in which the brand pushed SMS to the subscriber, such as a sale starts tomorrow, and pull campaigns, in which customers texted to get an offer such as “Save 25% off with in-store coupon- code XXX123.”

SMS push or broadcast campaigns made-up more than 95% of the volume, but pull messages added to stronger transaction results. It also compared transaction rates with Experian email benchmarks finding that mobile transaction rates were more than 10-times higher than the all industry average email transaction rate at 0.64% for all mobile campaigns compared to 0.06% for all industry email.

Customers who texted to get a coupon were more willing to complete a purchase than those receiving a push campaign, but both message types were successful in generating revenue. The overall revenue per message was $0.32, which is more than 3-times higher than the all industry revenue per email for this period at $0.09.

Majority of Americans, and two-thirds of Millennials,

read at least some books electronically

NEW YORK, N.Y. – April 17, 2014 – As with just about every other aspect of our lives, the ways in which we can read books have undergone radical shifts over the past few years. Not long ago hardcover and paperback were the main options available to readers, but then e-readers hit the scene, followed by tablet computers. With the additional options of reading on your computer or your phone, these days it seems as though just about the only thing standing between Americans and a good read is setting aside the time. Americans seem to be embracing their broader options, as the majority (54%) currently read e-books, including two-thirds of Millennials (66%).

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,234 adults surveyed online between March 12 and 17, 2014.

When asked to consider any format – not just hardcovers and paperbacks, but electronic formats as well – a strong majority of Americans (84%) say they read at least one book in an average year, with over a third (36%) saying they read more than ten. On average, Americans report reading roughly 17 books per year. Looking at demographics, Baby Boomers and Matures (whose readerships average roughly 19 and 25 books per year, respectively) both read more in a typical year than Millennials (13). Women, meanwhile, (23) read twice as many books as men (11).

Two-thirds of Americans (65%) purchased at least one book in the past year, with one in ten (9%) purchasing over 20 and an average of over 8 books purchased. Women also purchased more books in the last year, on average, than men (10 vs. 7, respectively).

Powered Readers = Power Readers

Interestingly, there appears to be an intersection at work between how Americans read and how much they read. Those who read either more or exclusively in the e-book format are more likely to read over 20 books in an average year (30%) than either those who read more/only in hard copy (18%) or those who read in both formats equally (21%). They also report a higher average readership per year than either hard copy hardliners or equal-opportunity readers (22.5 books vs. 16 and 15, respectively).

Looking at the number of books purchased in the past year, with a reported average of 14 books, those favoring e-books purchased roughly twice as many as those preferring hard copies, who purchased an average of less than seven.

Print Still Predominates

However, in terms of overall users, the hard copy format is still king. Nearly half of Americans (46%) say they only read hard copy books, with an additional 16% saying they read more hard copy books than e-books. Seventeen percent (17%) read about the same number of hard copy and e-format books, while 15% read more and 6% read exclusively in the electronic format.

About half of Americans (51%) say they read the same amount in the past six months as they did before, while nearly a quarter (23%) read less in the past six months and fewer than two in ten (17%) read more. Younger Americans often get blamed for declining readership nationally, but Millennials (21%) were more likely than their elders (14% Gen Xers; 15% Baby Boomers and Matures) to have read more in the past six months.

Further reinforcing the interplay between reading format and overall readership, those who read either more or exclusively e-books are more likely to indicate reading more over the past six months (29%) than those preferring hard copies (13%) or those who reading both formats equally (16%).

“Now, we’d like to ask you some questions about books and reading. When we refer to books, think of books in any format – not just hardcovers and paperbacks, but electronic formats as well. How many books do you typically read in an average year? If you are not sure, please use your best estimate.”

Base: All adults

Total

Generation

Gender

Preferred Format

Millennials (18-36)

Gen Xers (37-48)

Baby Boomers (49-67)

Matures (68+)

Male

Female

Read more/only hard copy

Same

Read more/only ebooks

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

0

16

15

18

16

15

20

12

15

30

8

Any (NET)

84

85

82

84

85

80

88

85

70

92

1-2

17

17

16

17

15

19

14

20

10

12

3-5

18

25

17

16

12

21

16

18

14

22

6-10

13

13

13

13

15

11

15

15

7

14

11+ (NET)

36

30

35

38

42

29

42

32

39

47

11-20

15

13

15

15

17

13

16

14

18

14

21+

21

17

20

23

26

15

26

18

21

30

Mean

17.1

13.2

15.4

18.6

25.2

10.9

22.9

15.9

14.8

22.5

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 2

BOOKS PURCHASED IN THE PAST YEAR

By Generation, Gender & Preferred Format

“How many books have you purchased in the past year?”

Base: All adults

Total

Generation

Gender

Preferred Format

Millennials (18-36)

Gen Xers (37-48)

Baby Boomers (49-67)

Matures (68+)

Male

Female

Read more/only hard copy

Same

Read more/only ebooks

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

0

35

31

35

36

42

38

32

37

38

27

Any (NET)

65

69

65

64

58

62

68

63

62

73

1-2

16

18

17

13

14

19

13

17

12

16

3-5

20

21

19

20

18

19

21

21

18

17

6-10

12

13

12

11

8

11

12

11

14

12

11-20

9

11

8

8

6

6

11

9

7

10

21+

9

5

8

12

12

8

11

6

10

19

Mean

8.4

6.5

8.5

9.8

9.3

6.9

9.9

6.6

8.5

14.0

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 3

READERSHIP – HARD COPY VS. ELECTRONICALLY

By Generation, Gender & Children in Household

“Currently, how many books would you say you read in hard copy form (e.g., hardcover, paperback) versus electronically (e.g., on a smartphone, tablet, e-reader)?”

Base: All adults

Total

Generation

Gender

Millennials (18-36)

Gen Xers (37-48)

Baby Boomers (49-67)

Matures (68+)

Male

Female

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

I only read hard copy books

46

34

46

52

57

44

48

I read more hard copy books than “e-books”

16

21

14

14

17

15

17

I read about the same number of hard copy and “e-books”

17

26

16

13

9

21

14

I read more “e-books” than hard copy books

15

14

18

15

11

14

15

I only read “e-books”

6

5

7

6

7

6

6

Read more e-books than hard copy (NET)

21

20

25

21

17

21

21

Read any e-books (NET)

54

66

54

48

43

56

52

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 4

READING MORE/LESS IN PAST 6 MONTHS

By Generation, Gender & Preferred Format

“Over the past 6 months, how have your reading habits changed? Please choose the statement that best describes you.”

Base: All adults

Total

Generation

Gender

Preferred Format

Millennials (18-36)

Gen Xers (37-48)

Baby Boomers (49-67)

Matures (68+)

Male

Female

Read more/only hard copy

Same

Read more/only ebooks

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

I read the same amount as I did before.

51

39

54

56

59

53

48

54

47

44

I read less than I did before.

23

26

23

21

19

19

26

24

22

19

I read more than I did before.

17

21

14

15

15

16

17

13

16

29

Not at all sure.

5

7

6

4

4

7

4

5

8

5

I purchase more books now, but do not read them as readily as I did before.

5

8

4

3

3

4

5

4

8

3

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between March 12 and 17, 2014 among 2,234 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, The Harris Poll avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in our panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of The Harris Poll.

Product and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

The Harris Poll®#37, April 17, 2014

By Larry Shannon-Missal, Harris Poll Research Manager

About Nielsen & The Harris Poll

On February 3, 2014, Nielsen acquired Harris Interactive and The Harris Poll. Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence and mobile measurement. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

When at risk males were surveyed regarding their interests, cooking and food service were at the top of the list. Seen as a career track, food is rapidly becoming a driving force throughout multiple sectors of the economy. What would it look like if we used eating, food, nutrition and health as economic redevelopment drivers?

Between 2004 and 2011, cooking moved to seventh from 12th on a list of men’s top interests, according to a recent study by the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA). That puts cooking ahead of politics and reading and right below cars. And another PLMA study found that 47 percent of men polled do more than half of their families’ shopping and cooking.

It’s not surprising then that Nielsen research shows men have gained or maintained trip share in all retail channels except drug stores since 2004. While women still drive 64 percent of all shopping trips, dominating every retail channel except convenience/gas, the rise of male shoppers cannot be ignored. As men assume more household responsibilities, their new influence over how cupboards and refrigerators are stocked requires food manufacturers and retailers to fine-tune their marketing plans or risk losing business.

Differences Abound Between Male and Female Shoppers

As with so many other areas, men and women shop differently. Women are more likely to seek out deals: they buy more on sale in total (34% of dollar purchases versus 28% for men) and shop with coupons about twice as much as men (7% versus 4%).

When we compare the distribution of all-outlet spending for women and men, the split varies by age. Young women under 36 years of age outspend their male counterparts almost 2:1 (19% versus 12%). The gap narrows with age, though women 36-44 years old retain a slight edge (16% versus 13%). Men find their stride from 45-54 years old, outspending women by a nose (27% versus 26%), then extend their lead during the 55-64 timeframe (26% versus 21%) and maintain it after age 65 (23% versus 18%).

So what are the sexes buying differently? Women dominate trip share for beauty, baby and basic food categories. Female share of category sales in many beauty and baby categories are between 79 percent and 90 percent. Female shoppers hold a 74 percent share of category sales by gender for items such as baking mixes, desserts/gels/syrups and breakfast foods, leaving men with just a 26 percent share. Even though men spend more per trip than women in many of these categories, more women buy and they buy more often.

Convenience stores, however, break all the rules. Male shopping trips in this channel lead female trips 57 percent to 43 percent. The channel’s unique position could set an example for others to follow. To help simplify shopping like convenience does, top-selling categories—such as beer, carbonated beverages, snacks, juices, bread and milk—are already collaborating with retailers to harness store layout, package design and in-store signage to create themed deal areas that bundle items, benefiting retailers, manufacturers and consumers.

Finding the Sexes’ Common Ground in Stores

When it comes time to shop, both genders share a preference for heading to the stores on the weekends. Men and women also buy many of the same items when they head to the store: bread/baked goods, fresh produce, snacks and milk appear among the top 10 most frequently purchased categories for both sexes.

Men and women also have similar habits when picking products. They equally favor brands compared with private label (about 80% versus 20% for both), although women spend more on both. And both sexes show strong preferences for brands in certain categories. Women account for 81 percent of dollars spent for branded hair care. And well over half of men buy branded products in motor vehicle care (57%) and liquor (58%).

What do These Differences and Similarities Mean for Retailers?

Men and women’s unique shopping habits can provide challenges to retailers attempting to reach both. However, the benefits can far outweigh these difficulties—especially for certain categories and channels. Men’s lower interest in shopping for deals provides a unique opportunity for premium priced brands and non-promotional items—especially with men under 36 years of age. And while convenience is a nice-to-have for female shoppers, it’s a deal breaker for men. Does your marketing exploit or ignore this positioning opportunity? Marketers with campaigns at odds with their shoppers’ preferences may be overdue for a review.

Recently, I’ve been reading a lot about basic CRM tools that seem to make sense for people looking for a better way to organize their contacts. I road-tested two of them, Contactually and Do.com, to see if they could help me get a handle on the thousands of contacts in my Gmail account and social networks.

Contactually, a Web-based service set to launch an iPhone app this month, is free for a basic account and $19.99 a month for the premium subscription I tested. After registering, I synced the service to my Gmail, Twitter, and Facebook accounts. Instantly, it began to analyze my accounts and scrape contact information from e-mail signatures. Within 15 minutes, Contactually had compiled information on some 15,000 contacts in a single online address book. I was amazed. It found 950 duplicate contacts and merged them into single entries. It also noticed when I was not connected to contacts on Facebook or Twitter. I could click a button on my Contactually dashboard to follow them on Twitter or send Facebook friend requests.

Even better, Contactually zeroed in on my top 50 contacts, given thefrequency of our e-mail interactions. I organized them into several “buckets” and set a contact frequency for each one–once a week for editors, once a month for story sources, and so on. When it was time to get in touch, the service reminded me via email and dashboard notifications. As a result, I was doing a better job of following up with important sources and pitching ideas to editors. Another bonus: Contactually lets you share contacts with colleagues and see how many they have followed up with.

Next, I signed up for Do.com, a free Web-based task manager that recently added some basic CRM features. I synced the service, which also has an app for iPhones and Android phones, to my Gmail and Facebook accounts. (Do.com plans to introduce Twitter integration shortly.) In about 20 minutes, it imported the names and email addresses of some 13,000 Gmail contacts and 1,200 Facebook contacts and compiled them into one online address book. It doesn’t scrape email signatures or identify top contacts, as Contactually does. But it does have one big advantage for teams: Unlike Contactually, Do.com lets you assign tasks to other people. The service alerts them by email and dashboard notifications. Then, you can log on to see which tasks have been completed.

My recommendation? If you’re looking for a more collaborative approach to contact management, Do.com is a good bet. Because I do most of my work solo, Contactually made more sense for me. Now, I’m a much better salesperson for my own brand.